IDENTIFICATION OF THE CHROMOSOMES IN A SET OF RECIPROCAL TRANSLOCATIONS IN GOSSYPIUM HIRSUTUM L.

Abstract

The chromosomes involved in twenty reciprocal translocations in G. hirsutum were reidentified by means of a specially designed crossing program. Each translocation line was crossed to appropriate monosomic, monotelodisomic, and/or translocation lines. The F₁ hybrids were then scored cytologically to verify the original chromosome identification. These twenty reciprocal translocations now become the cytogenetic tester set for G. hirsutum. Seed stocks for each verified translocation line will be maintained at, and distributed by, the University of Arizona. Nineteen of the twenty heterozygous translocations had a modal chiasma frequency per quadrivalent of four. Fourteen of these translocation lines formed predominantly ring multivalents at MI, and the remaining five translocations usually formed multivalents with at least one interstitial chiasma. One translocation line, which was originally produced by an interspecies cross, formed predominantly chains at MI. This increased amount of chaining in the quadrivalent is probably the result of interspecific chromosome material within the translocation reducing the chiasma frequency. The orientation of the centromeres in quadrivalents is influenced by the size of the chromosomes involved in the reciprocal translocation, and the constraints imposed by the chiasmata within the chromosome arms. Ten of the twenty reciprocal translocations studied formed predominantly alternate orientations at MI. Eight of these ten translocation lines were reciprocal translocations between two A subgenome chromosomes. This suggests that the large A subgenome chromosomes allow the quadrivalent to be more flexible, resulting in easy reorientation to the stable alternate configuration. Proximal chiasma formation influences the orientation and probable involvement of the homologous centromeres in spindle formation. Lines in which a high frequency of multivalents with interstitial chiasma were observed had a significantly lower frequency of multivalents with either one or two centromeres not involved in spindle formation of 3:1 orientations. In most of the heterozygous translocations, identification of each chromosome within the quadrivalent at MI was not possible. Estimation formulae were developed to estimate the positions of the breakpoints and the genetic lengths of each segment defined by multivalents in these translocations.